Multi-unit container package

ABSTRACT

A multi-unit container package comprising in combination an outer one piece sleeve-form open end wrapper and a plurality of container units therein each consisting of a plurality of containers detachably bonded together by adhesive means applied to each container on a side wall contacting a side wall of another container, each unit being free of any holder, strap, tray or space consuming means, said outer wrapper having a flat top overlying in direct contact the tops of the containers, a flat bottom supporting in direct contact the bottoms of the containers, opposite side walls directly contacting the side walls of a plurality of containers in a plurality of units, and a tear strip located midway between and parallel to the open ends of the outer wrapper extending around the outer wrapper said tear strip having a pull tab cut out of the outer wrapper material at one end of the strip, whereby the outer wrapper and contents may be divided into two parts each consisting of an outer wrapper and a plurality of units each consisting of a plurality of adhering containers.

United States Patent [1 1 1111 3,759,378 Werth 1 Sept. 18, 1973MULTI-UNIT CONTAINER PACKAGE [57] ABSTRACT Inventor: Elmer Dr ArvadaColo- A multi-unit container package comprising in combina- [73]Assigneez Adolph Coors Company; Golden tion an outer one piecesleeve-formopen end wrapper Colo and a plurality of container umtstherein each consisting of a plurality of containers detachably bondedto- [22] Flled: May 1972 gether by adhesive means applied to eachcontainer on [211 App. 250,528 a side wall contacting a side wall ofanother container, each unit being free of any holder, strap, tray orspace consuming means, said outer wrapper having a flat top 206/65206/56 229/40 overlying in direct contact the tops'of the containers,229/51 229/5] TS a flat bottom supporting in direct contact the bottoms[51] Cl 865d 5/02 865d 5/54 365d 71/00 of the containers, opposite sidewalls directly contact- 365d 85/62 ing the side walls of a plurality ofcontainers in a plural- [58] Field of Search 206/65 C, 65 E, 65 R, ity funits and a tear strip located midway between 206/56 AB; 229/51 DB, 51 T40 and parallel to the open ends of the outer wrapper extending aroundthe outer wrapper said tear strip having [56] References C'ted a pulltab cut out of the outer wrapper material at one UNITED STATES PATENTSend of the strip, whereby the outer wrapper and con- 3,540,582 11 1970Wood 206/65 E tents y be divided into two Parts each Consisting of2,677,460 5/1954 Johnson et al. 206/65 C an outer wrapper and aplurality of units each consist- 2,322,323 5/1967 Greene et al. 206/65 Ring of a plurality of adhering containers. 3,224,633 l2/l965 Allen229/51 DB 3,397,776 8/1968 Weiss 228/40 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures2,828,009 3/1958 Andre 206/65 C I Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson,Jr. Attorney-Bertha L. MacGregor 28 :1 I I 1 1 I 27 1 y 1 29| 29 1 I I29 a f? 7 1 I 25 29 I 29 25 1 l I8 12 La L; l l L will 'i I t 1 Z5 I 1 II I I j/ PATENTED SE" 8 ms M Q MQ 2 mil This invention relates toacontainer package comprising in combination an outer sleeve-form openend wrapper and a plurality of container units each consisting of aplurality of containers locatedside by sideand detachablybondedtogetherby adhesive. means applied to each container on a sidewall contactingthe side wall of another container. Each of the containerunits is selfcontained and free of any holder, tray or wrapping. Theouter wrapper has a flat top overlying in direct contact the tops of thecontainers, aflat bottom supporting in direct contact the bottoms of thecontainers, and opposite side wallsdirectly contacting the side walls ofa plurality of containers in a plurality of container units.

The outer wrapper is provided with a tear strip extending around theouter wrapper located midway between and parallel to the open ends ofthe outer wrapper, said tear strip having a pull tab cut out of theouter wrapper material at the end of the strip, whereby the outerwrapper and contents may be divided into two parts each consisting of anouter wrapper and a plurality of units, each of said units consisting of"a plurality of glued together containers. The individual containers maybe necked cans which have their top ends or lids attached to the neckedportions of the cylindrical side walls in such manner that the lids donot protrude beyond the diameter of the can body and thus do not preventclose contact between the glued together side walls of the containers.If the containers are bottles, their bodies have uniform diameterportions and necked smaller diameter portions, the glue being applied tothe uniform diameter portions of the bottles.

Due to the compact construction of each unit consisting of six or otherplurality of containers in close adhering side wall contact with eachother, detachably held together by glue applied to said contactingwalls, without any wrapper, strapor tray applied to the containers of aunit, together with the placement of a plurality of said units side byside, without any wrapping or binding means, and enclosure of theplurality of said units in an outer sleeve form, open end wrapper indirect contact with the tops, bottoms and sides of containers, I haveproduced a package which exceeds the dimensions of the plurality ofcontainers only by the thickness of the said outer wrapper.

This is in contrast to prior art packages which employ various means fortying or holding together the individual containers of a unit and forholding together a plurality of such units within an outer tray or boxform carton. The provision of necked containers which permit closecontact between adjacent side walls'to which adhesive is applied, andthe absence of any holders, trays or other space-consuming means forholding a plurality of containers together in a unit, has resulted inthe production of a package of utmost compactness wherein the contentsare in close contact with each other and with the outer wrapper whereinthey are retained by close frictional engagement between the wrapper andcontainer surfaces contacted thereby.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-unit container packageconsisting of four units, each unit including six containers, and anouter open end sleeve-form wrapper preferably made of corrugated orsimilar paper board. The containers shown are cans, but they may bebottles as heretofore mentioned.

- 2 FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the package shown in FIG. 1, showing inbroken lines the tops of the containers in the container units in theouter wrapper.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale, in the planeof the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

In theembodirnent of the invention shown in the drawings, thepackageasawhole consists of an outer open end sleeve-form wrapper 10 containingfour units 11 each consisting of six containers 12.

The wrapper 10 is made of one rectangular piece of cardboard folded toprovide a top 15, side 16, bottom 17, side 18 and a flap 19 on the edgeof the top 15. The 'flap 19 overlies theupper. portion of the side 18. Atear strip 20 extends around the wrapper midway between the open ends ofthewrapper and parallel to theends of the wrapper. The tearstrip 20 hasa pull tab 21 which is cut out of the material of the flap 19 adjacentthe end of the strip. The flap 19 is glued or otherwise fastened to theside 18 in the overlapping area.

Each container 12 is a can having a cylindrical body 25 constituting theside wall of the container, a bottom 26 which may be integral with thebody 25, and a cover or lid 27 attached to the upper edge of thecylindrical body. The upper portion of thebody 25 is necked as indicatedat 28 to reduce the diameter of said upper portion and permit attachmentof a cover or lid 27 that does not project radially beyond the outersurfaces of the cylindrical body 25. Thus the containers 12 can bepositioned adjacent each otherside by side, with their cylindricalsidewalls in close tangential contact. If the containers arenon-cylindrical, or rectangular in cross section, their side walls arelocated in close surface contact with each other. In cylindrical bodiessuch as shown herein, dots or lines of adhesive material 29 are placedonthe tangential contacting areas to bond the containers of a unittogether.

Depressible tabs 30. in the top 1 5 of the outer wrapper provide fingeropenings for carrying the package as a whole or half of the package ifthe. tear strip-20 has separated one half from the other half.

In the embodiment of the invention'shown in the drawings, six containers12 comprise each of the four units 11, with the twocontainer ends of theunits 11 the containers and bonding them together by adhesive meansapplied to the side walls of the containers, produces a package ofminimum size as related to the contents. I

I claim: l. A compact multi-unit container package consisting only of anouter one-piece sleeve-form open end wrapper and a plurality ofcontainer units therein each consisting only of a plurality ofcylindrical containers, saidcontainer units being characterized by theabsence of any holder, tray, strap or wrapping, the containers in eachunit being detachably bonded together by adhesive means applied in anarrow area or row parallel to the axis of the cylindrical container toeach container 7 on a cylindrical side wall closely contacting acylindrical side wall of another container, said outer wrapper having aflat top overlying in direct contact the tops of tact the bottoms of thecontainers, and opposite side walls directly contacting side walls of aplurality of containers in a plurality of units.

2. The package defined by claim 1, which includes a tear strip extendingaround the outer wrapper midway between and parallel to the open ends ofthe said wrapper, said tear strip having a pull tab cut out of the outerwrapper material at the end of the strip, whereby the outer wrapper andcontents may be divided into two parts each consisting of an outerwrapper and a plurality of units each consisting of a plurality ofadhering containers.

3. The package defined by claim 2, in which the one piece wrapperincludes a flap integral with the top of the wrapper overlying one ofits sides, and the pull tab is cut out of the flap portion of thewrapper.

4. The package defined by claim 1, in which the individual containershave uniform diameter side walls necked at their upper edges and endswhich do not protrude outwardly beyond said uniform diameter side walls,whereby the containers in each unit are located side by side in closeside wall contact with each other, and the plurality. of units areretained in the outer wrapper by close frictional engagement between thewrapper and container surfaces contacted thereby.

5. The package defined by claim 1, in which four 6- container units arelocated in the outer wrapper, with two containers in each of two unitsfacing the open ends of the wrapper, and three containers in each of twounits facing a side wall of the outer wrapper.

6. The package defined by claim 2, in which four 6- container units arelocated in the outer wrapper, two of said units being located betweenone open end of the wrapper and the tear strip, and the other two ofsaid units being located between the opposite open end of the wrapperand the tear strip, whereby when the tear strip has been removed, eachof the separated parts of the package contains two 6-container units andeach unit has two containers exposed at opposite ends of the separatedouter wrapper.

1. A compact multi-unit container package consisting only of an outerone piece sleeve-form open end wrapper and a plurality of containerunits therein each consisting only of a plurality of cylindricalcontainers, said container units being characterized by the absence ofany holder, tray, strap or wrapping, the containers in each unit beingdetachably bonded together by adhesive means applied in a narrow area orrow parallel to the axis of the cylindrical container to each containeron a cylindrical side wall closely contacting a cylindrical side wall ofanother container, said outer wrapper having a flat top overlying indirect contact the tops of the containers, a flat bottom supporting indirect contact the bottoms of the containers, and opposite side wallsdirectly contacting side walls of a plurality of containers in aplurality of units.
 2. The package defined by claim 1, which includes atear strip extending around the outer wrapper midway between andparallel to the open ends of the said wrapper, said tear strip having apull tab cut out of the outer wrapper material at the end of the strip,whereby the outer wrapper and contents may be divided into two partseach consisting of an outer wrapper and a plurality of units eachconsisting of a plurality of adhering containers.
 3. The package definedby claim 2, in which the one piece wrapper includes a flap integral withthe top of the wrapper overlying one of its sides, and the pull tab iscut out of the flap portion of the wrapper.
 4. The package defined byclaim 1, in which the individual containers have uniform diameter sidewalls necked at their upper edges and ends which do not protrudeoutwardly beyond said uniform diameter side walls, whereby thecontainers in each unit are located side by side in close side wallcontact with each other, and the plurality of units are retained in theouter wrapper by close frictional engagement between the wrapper andcontainer surfaces contacted thereby.
 5. The package defined by claim 1,in which four 6-container units are located in the outer wrapper, withtwo containers in each of two units facing the open ends of the wrapper,and three containers in each of two units facing a side wall of theouter wrapper.
 6. The package defined by claim 2, in which four6-container units are located in the outer wrapper, two of said unitsbeing located between one open end of the wrapper and the tear strip,and the other two of said units being located between the opposite openend of the wrapper and the tear strip, whereby when the tear strip hasbeen removed, each of the separated parts of the package contains two6-container units and each unit has two containers exposed at oppositeends of the separated outer wrapper.